Super Duck 42I chose this particular issue because I feel that the end of 1951 beginning of 1952 was probably the height of Fagaly's career in terms of drawing style and story writing quality, a little after that of Carl Barks' 1949-52. I wrote a lot in posts above about the history of Super Duck Comics and its principal artist and storywriter, Al Fagaly. So, I'll stick mostly to analysing this book's stories, and features, and the issue, as a whole.
(1) Super Duck - "Once Upon A Crime"The titlebar's inclusion of the wanted poster for jewel robber, Sam Quenton is very nice. He looks quite menacing (as if he'd have no qualms about rubbing out any victim, copper, or private detective who'd get in his way on a caper. "Supe" is proudly wearing the legacy of his West Tyrolian heritage, of lederhosen and a Tyrolian feathered hat (which has grown from its early and mid 1940s proper size, to so big that it has almost morphed into a Fedora. He is further distinguished from his distant "cousin", Donald, by actually having $5,000 US Dollars cash on his person, and incredibly paying it all to a Jeweler for a real, high quality diamond bracelet for his highly demanding, high-maintenance ladyfriend. That would be like spending $54,000 US, £43,000 UK, or €50,000. That is more than I ever earned in any year I worked! I wouldn't give such a gift even to someone I loved, let alone someone like that selfish, bitchy Uwanna (girlfriend of his)!
Not only is that something Donald would NEVER do, but Donald only ever had that amount of cash on him when he was working in his rich, Uncle Scrooge's Money Bin, or running around gather millions of Dollars off the ground after a tornado had blown all Scrooge's money out of the gigantic open-topped corn crib he stored it in, in 1951, while he was farming out in the countryside. Supe skips gaily over the streets towards his lady love's house to present it to her. So, Fagaly is here doing his job of not only making Donald's physical looks different enough from Donald's, but he's also making at least some aspects of his character different. Good thing, too, as he still has his quick temper, quickness to jump to conclusions, much too high ego, overestimation of his own knowledge and abilities, etc.
When he arrives, he gets angry when he finds out Uwanna must babysit her gigantic young nephew. So Supe calls up a babysitting service. Luck has it that the wanted jewel thief(looking for a place to hide from the police) is just outside and overhears their conversation. This TWO-TRACK coincidence story is an excellent
plot-generator for making interesting stories, that Barks often used. The criminal dresses up like a woman, posing as the service's babysitter, and the happy couple leave for an evening's entertainment. Of course, the youthful ball of destruction (nephew) is wayyyy too much even for the tough villain to handle. And after forcing the criminal to "play a game" with him, big little Buster knocks the villain unconscious. Hearing the noise of the villain's explosion from trying to open Uwannas safe, to steal the bracelet, Supe and Uwanna return. Supe, who hates Buster, actually calls Buster a murderer, and menace to society, who should "get the electric chair"!!! (wouldn't have gotten past The Comics Code, a mere 3 years later!) -And he runs to bring a policeman, so the kid can be arrested!!! That may be a very idiotic thing to say in front of his ladyfriend (especially one you've just spent $54,000 on), but, at least it's a way Supe can get the bracelet back, - thrown at his face! Of course, with Barksian irony, the ending has Buster receiving the $1,000 reward for the villain's capture. And the selfish, egotistic, shortsighted, and jealous Super Duck seems angry not only that the kid gets the money, but even more, that he doesn't go off to jail, so that he can enjoy time alone with his ladyfriend the few times she'd otherwise have to babysit. These are NOT likeable characters (to say the least). Which is a big reason why Super Duck's following was many times smaller than Donald's. But Supe's hubrus and self-righteousness must have appealed to many of his fans. All, in all, I thought it was a very entertaining story, worthy of Barks having written it (although some of its hard edges (such as the electric chair crack wouldn't be in HIS version).
(2) Super Duck - "Love's Labor Lost"Uwanna invites (commands) that Supe take her to a benefit that Pathetic University (Old P.U.) is giving to raise money to rebuild the main building that her nephew, Buster, tore down during a tantrum or "experiment". The geeky, ugly young woman living next door to Supe's house is also looking for a date to take her to that dance. Can you all predict a two-track story with their paths crossing, that will lead to some sort of catastrophe for Super Duck? - with a good chance for him to show off his temper? I already see several Barkslike panels with Supe running away and hiding from the predatory woman. Lots of great animation-style action. In a very Barkslike, Donaldlike move, Supe, who just happens to have a giant cat costume in his attic, dresses up in it to venture outside to stay out of the woman's view, to get back to the telephone, to confirm the date with Uwanna. But that attempt is foiled by the neighbour's bulldog, who thinks Supe is a real house cat. Unfortunately, the story ends there......... greatly disappointing me, and probably thousands of other readers, who wanted to see him at the dance with the neighbour, with her stamping hard on his toes while dancing, and then chasing him into the garden where they could "make out", all the while with Uwanna following, throwing hard and heavy objects at him for standing her up for another woman.
(3) Cubby The Bear - "A Feather In Your Bonnet"Red Holmdale's art is lousy in this one, and his story plot, staging, and dialogues (e.g. writing) is even worse. 'Nuff Said! Even a 4-year old wouldn't believe that scores of people would wait in a long line outside the Rodeo Arena entrance, to buy a mock (ersatz) Native American Great Plains tribal chieftan eagle feather headdress made from feather duster feathers to wear while watching that event. Did Holmdale actually make a living from producing such drivel???
(4) Super Duck - "It's A Bum's Deal"This is a typical Barks plot. Supe, desperate for money, is jealous of a millionaire visiting Duckville during "Be-Kind-To-Hoboes-Week", and reads in the newspaper about his plan to give a prize of a large amount of money away to the kindest man he'll meet there. just like Donald would, Supe hatches a plan to get that money. So, he goes to The Hobo Jungle and offers one a half dollar. The Hobo is insulted, grabs Supe's wallet, and takes ALL his cash bills. On his way back through Downtown, Supe sees another hobo standing next to the millionaire's limousine. Jumping to a conclusion, he thinks the hobo is really the millionaire, and wants to take a ride in the car. The hobo tells him he can, and jumps in. The Hobo gets him to race alongside a freight train, and jumps onto it, leaving the police chasing Supe driving the stolen car. He soon drives it off a bridge, into the river. Luckily for him, on his way walking back to town, Supe sees the millionaire, and offers him to come to his house for a meal. Supe cooks him the meal, offers him fine cigars, and some of his clothing (funny, because they should be way too small for the larger man). Then Supe opens his giant rolling safe (what's that doing in an ordinary person's house???) and hands the millionaire the deed to his house. The millionaire is very impressed. But when Supe asks for his $million reward, the rich man informs him the bad news that he's already given the prize away. In a fit, hothead Super Duck jumps on the man choking him. Of course, just that second, a policeman comes running up to arrest him. As Supe demands the deed to his house be returned to him, the officer examines it and agrees it belongs to the millionaire (Supe must have signed it over to him, and the new owner signed on as new owner. Supe is carried off to jail. In the last panel, we see Supe dressed in rags, with blind people's glasses, begging on the street, trying to take advantage of what time is left in "Be Kind To Hobos week". Nice, ironic ending. Kind of nasty millionaire who would punish a Golddigger for trying to unjustly win a prize, by keeping the man's house. But the morals are somewhat right in that Supe (who could afford to pay out $5000 cash for a gift) was doing wrong by unjustly trying to steal a prize away from a deserving person. It would have made more sense for the millionaire to dress up as a hobo to find the kindest man. But, the story still works decently, showing that rich people are often eccentric, and downright stupid at times.
(5) Super Duck - "The Pick Of The Crop"A perfect Donald Duck story! Supe sells his house to buy an orange tree farm in Latin America, in a poorly-thought-out scheme to become rich. His little brother, Fauntleroy takes the part of Huey, Dewey, and Louie, warning him against such folly. But Supe, like Donald, overestimates his own capabilities, and moves ahead with his plan, anyway. All the labourers in the nearest town run away when Supe asks them to work in his orange grove. So Supe is determined that he and Faunt will pick all the oranges. Supe meets a freakish 6-armed man in a tree, who seemed glad to take baskets to pick the oranges. instead of being grateful to have one picker who can pick as much as three, the hothead Super Duck slugs the man in his face. Then he comes running back with a shotgun apparently to threaten him and make him leave, or to murder him. Some protagonist for a little kid's story, eh? Now I'm surprised that Archie Series dared to continue publishing their "Super Duck" series after 1954. I guess Dr. Wertham never looked at this series, thinking it was a "harmless" funny animal series like those published by Disney. Failing to move the man, who keeps him away by clobbering him with hundreds of oranges, Supe prepares a trough of quick-drying cement to trap the man. But the man simply walks upside down on his hands and climbs back into a tree. So, a defeated Supe sells his grove to the man who offered to buy it before. The new owner, seeing that the"freak" just wanted to pick the oranges, hires him, and drives his car through the grove with the 6-armed man picking the oranges at lightening speed. Supe is again frustrated and jealous. And the brutish so-called protagonist irrationally blames Faunt for all his misery even though his brother warned him the entire time NOT to sell his house and buy the orange grove. The pair returns the several thousand miles on foot, with Super Duck pounding his defenceless little brother on his head all they along. I wonder why this story never bothered me? Super Duck is WORSE than many comic book series that were unapproved in 1954 and forced to be shut down. Good thing for Archie that none of the reviewers from the complainants looked through ALL of The 65 or so "Super Duck" issues story pages that had been issued by that time.
(6) Super Duck - "He Goes From Bed To Worse"
An okay gag-driven 2-Pager that is mildly funny. Nice artwork, as usual, with Supe's Grandma Duck looking and acting EXACTLY like Barks' Donald's Grandma Duck. Not exactly worried about plagiarism here. But, Grandma was used fairly seldomly. So, it wasn't a problem.
All in all a satisfying book for a funny animal fan, and an interesting read for the fans of comic book history, who didn't know who Al Fagaly was, or who didn't know that Super Duck was a selfish, heartless, inconsiderate brute, who deserved the toxic co-dependent relationship he had with his similarly defective ladyfriend. But poor Fauntleroy didn't deserve his fate to be an orphan subject to his brutal brother's custody until his age of majority. Or maybe they weren't orphans, but just ran away from their monstrous eldest son, without taking the time to think of taking their helpless infant child, Fauntleroy, with them?
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Topic: Reading Grp 304-MLJ's Black Swan1,Super Duck 42 & Adventures Of The Dover Boys 1 (Read 1546 times)
